VR Improvement

[claire_tea]

I have a question about the dreaded VR section.

I just took my first full length VR test and scored a 12. Although I know this is a good score, I'm curious as to what degree of improvement other individuals have seen from when they began studying for VR, to when they took the MCAT. Also, (in general) how did your real VR score compare to what you were averaging on practise tests?

 

Thanks everyone!

[CaptainM]

I found I was averaging around 12 for the practice tests (AAMC and Kaplan), but then on the actual test I got a 9. I didn't put too much time into verbal because I was always doing well on the practice tests, but looking back that wasn't the best strategy! So just from personal experience, I'd spend more time than you think you need on this section.

[onamountain]

I also scored fairly high on my first VR, and I found it really hard to improve that score. I worked away at practice passages and kept a log of all my wrong answers, and in the last few weeks before my test my scores had crept up by 2 pts. My score on the real test was consistent with my practice.

 

Good luck!

[estairella]

I have a question about the dreaded VR section.

I just took my first full length VR test and scored a 12. Although I know this is a good score, I'm curious as to what degree of improvement other individuals have seen from when they began studying for VR, to when they took the MCAT. Also, (in general) how did your real VR score compare to what you were averaging on practise tests?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

I got a 14 on VR on my second practice test. Suffice it to say, it went downhill from there.

 

If I recall correctly, the lowest I got was a 10, and my average was a 12-13 on all the practices combined.

[claire_tea]

I got a 14 on VR on my second practice test. Suffice it to say, it went downhill from there.

 

If I recall correctly, the lowest I got was a 10, and my average was a 12-13 on all the practices combined.

 

How did the 12-13 average compare to your actual score on the test day?

[estairella]

How did the 12-13 average compare to your actual score on the test day?

 

It was a 13, so pretty consistent. But I wouldn't have been surprised by an 11 or 12. I would've probably been quite disappointed if I had gotten a 10, but it also falls within the range of probability imo.

[The Ace of Spades]

Practice Test 3: 9 (7/22)

Practice Test 7: 11 (8/12)

Practice Test 8: 10 (8/20)

Practice Test 9: 11 (8/28)

Practice Test 10: 7 (9/01)

 

Real Test: 11 (9/04)

 

I don't know what happened on 9/01, but other than that, my actual score wasn't far from what I was averaging.

[infomeddude]

For people starting off with CRAZY HIGH VR scores, what is your major? Most of my friends are in the sciences and we can barely hit the 10 mark after MONTHS of prep.. and here you guys are getting 12's w/o much effort lol..

[rmorelan]

For people starting off with CRAZY HIGH VR scores, what is your major? Most of my friends are in the sciences and we can barely hit the 10 mark after MONTHS of prep.. and here you guys are getting 12's w/o much effort lol..

 

I did pretty well on VR and have an arts and science background. I really do think the arts degree students have an advantage on the VR section.

[inspiring-curmudgeon]

For people starting off with CRAZY HIGH VR scores, what is your major? Most of my friends are in the sciences and we can barely hit the 10 mark after MONTHS of prep.. and here you guys are getting 12's w/o much effort lol..

 

Got 12-14 consistently on my first few tries. I'm a life science major, but I've been a bookworm since I was a kid and I love English.

[estairella]

I did pretty well on VR and have an arts and science background. I really do think the arts degree students have an advantage on the VR section.

 

Same here as above, kind of. Got a B.Sc. Stopped reading in university though, but I loved to read in high school. I took literature courses in university which *boosted* my science marks... (stupid lab courses..!)

 

I think what it comes down to is that PS and BS are significantly knowledge-based, so there is an easy avenue for improvement. VR is about 'reading comprehension'... something much more nebulous. There are certainly strategies to optimize how you do the VR sections - I always routinely had 10-20 minutes extra time in the VR section because I never stressed over a question (it's not like physics where if you think hard enough, maybe you'll figure it out lol) and I know many people struggle with length of time for VR. In terms of the understanding itself though, sometimes people just don't 'get' the more esoteric topics and I don't know why I 'get it' sometimes and why I don't.

 

I mean, if you think you have it tough... imagine all the people who have English as a second language. I have heard many stories of people (immigrants and such) getting ridiculous scores like 14/7/12.

[claire_tea]

Mnet (and others): Do you think that the EK's are actually harder than the real test, or are simply different?

 

 

Infomeddude: I don't know if 12 counts as crazy high (and it is still possible it was a fluke, I will have to report back in after I have taken a couple more) but I'm a BSc. Psychology major, with chemistry as my 'classic' science focus. To be honest, I don't believe my major really influenced my VR score, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have loved reading since I was very young. Also, my parents strongly encouraged 'higher lever' reading from a young age, so I have been reading Economist articles, NEJM passages etc. since I was in early highschool. The fact I enjoy reading has also made me a very fast reader, which likely provides an advantage in VR since you have more time to read and analyze the questions/answer choices.

[estairella]

Mnet (and others): Do you think that the EK's are actually harder than the real test, or are simply different?

 

They are a little more challenging. I had the EK 101 VR Passages book for a while (.... and then someone stole my backpack. ) and I remember in THOSE passages I was definitely scoring only 10-11's. And on the EK full lengths (I did 3), I think highest I got was a 12.

 

I think they are harder than the real test, but most reflective of them (other than the AAMC ones). They don't test specific knowledge in the questions that much (too easy) and focused more on broader idea things. They are, however, biased towards the EK verbal reasoning strategy (focus on main idea, analyze question stems, etc. etc.)..

[claire_tea]

They are a little more challenging. I had the EK 101 VR Passages book for a while (.... and then someone stole my backpack. ) and I remember in THOSE passages I was definitely scoring only 10-11's. And on the EK full lengths (I did 3), I think highest I got was a 12.

 

I think they are harder than the real test, but most reflective of them (other than the AAMC ones). They don't test specific knowledge in the questions that much (too easy) and focused more on broader idea things. They are, however, biased towards the EK verbal reasoning strategy (focus on main idea, analyze question stems, etc. etc.)..

 

Thanks, that is good to know. The score of 12 I was referring to in my original post was on an EK full length from the EK 101 VR Passages book (which I had assumed were comparable), so I will take the AAMC Practice Test 3 next and see how that score compares.

[estairella]

Thanks, that is good to know. The score of 12 I was referring to in my original post was on an EK full length from the EK 101 VR Passages book (which I had assumed were comparable), so I will take the AAMC Practice Test 3 next and see how that score compares.

 

Don't do 3 to judge how well you'll do. Do 3 as an ego booster. (Of all the AAMC exams, it's universally agreed that 3 is the easiest. Some disagreement on which one is the hardest, but I would have to say either 4 or 6)

[claire_tea]

Don't do 3 to judge how well you'll do. Do 3 as an ego booster. (Of all the AAMC exams, it's universally agreed that 3 is the easiest. Some disagreement on which one is the hardest, but I would have to say either 4 or 6)

 

Oh ! Thanks for the warning estairella, I definitely did not know that! Also, if you don't mind me asking, you obviously owned the VR section of the MCAT, but how was your score overall? I really appreciate the advice you have given on the VR, and was wondering if you had tips for the other sections?!

[Femto]

For people starting off with CRAZY HIGH VR scores, what is your major? Most of my friends are in the sciences and we can barely hit the 10 mark after MONTHS of prep.. and here you guys are getting 12's w/o much effort lol..

 

 

I agree with you! I am heavy science based, and unforunately did not read that much as a kid. I have just started doing some practice tests (Aug. 4 date), and getting a 10 is starting to seem like more and more of a dream. I have not hit above 8 yet!

 

After doing some self diagnosis (just analyzing why a have been making mistakes), it is becoming more clear that I am just having difficulty with speed and focus. I often find myself thinking about something other than the passage while I am reading, and then I realize that I have no idea what the last paragraph was talking about.

 

Any tips to help with this?

 

Thanks!!

[estairella]

Oh ! Thanks for the warning estairella, I definitely did not know that! Also, if you don't mind me asking, you obviously owned the VR section of the MCAT, but how was your score overall? I really appreciate the advice you have given on the VR, and was wondering if you had tips for the other sections?!

 

lol actually, VR was my weakest score I did pretty well: 14/13/14 R. My first diagnostic was a 30, so it was ~10 point improvement, which is fairly typical I would say. I'm a nerd that makes graphs, so you can see my score trend here.

 

Initially, the section I struggled most with was PS because I was not familiar with the formulas and so I had trouble finishing on time. In the end though, it became my strongest section because, honestly, if you know all the formulas and concepts, the only mistakes you'll make are stupid ones like calculation errors. If you look at AAMC statistics, PS is the section with the highest % of 15's.. and I think it's for that very reason.

 

I did a hell of alot of full lengths (for context I spent about 4 months studying where I did about one full length a week the first 3 months and two/week in the last month.), and I think that was key as well. This was back in the paper MCAT days so I wanted to make sure stamina was not an issue. Doing exams doesn't necessarily teach you things on a conceptual level but it does bring up certain questions and scenarios that come up again and again, so you end up with a good idea of what kinds of things tend to show up.

 

Anyways, those were all pretty general comments, anything in particular you're concerned about?

 

After doing some self diagnosis (just analyzing why a have been making mistakes), it is becoming more clear that I am just having difficulty with speed and focus. I often find myself thinking about something other than the passage while I am reading, and then I realize that I have no idea what the last paragraph was talking about.

 

I think it's easy to fall into that, because a lot of VR passages are on unfamiliar topics. But you have to remain interested to be able to understand the author's argument. One thing you can try is pretending you're critiquing the article - don't read passively but try to challenge every idea to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Hopefully that will help you be more engaged in it.

[takashi]

You are a beast estairella !

[claire_tea]

lol actually, VR was my weakest score I did pretty well: 14/13/14 R. My first diagnostic was a 30, so it was ~10 point improvement, which is fairly typical I would say. I'm a nerd that makes graphs, so you can see my score trend here.

 

Initially, the section I struggled most with was PS because I was not familiar with the formulas and so I had trouble finishing on time. In the end though, it became my strongest section because, honestly, if you know all the formulas and concepts, the only mistakes you'll make are stupid ones like calculation errors. If you look at AAMC statistics, PS is the section with the highest % of 15's.. and I think it's for that very reason.

 

I did a hell of alot of full lengths (for context I spent about 4 months studying where I did about one full length a week the first 3 months and two/week in the last month.), and I think that was key as well. This was back in the paper MCAT days so I wanted to make sure stamina was not an issue. Doing exams doesn't necessarily teach you things on a conceptual level but it does bring up certain questions and scenarios that come up again and again, so you end up with a good idea of what kinds of things tend to show up.

 

Anyways, those were all pretty general comments, anything in particular you're concerned about?

 

Holy cow estairella, that is an incredible score. I'm over here hoping/wishing/praying/doing whatever else I can think to get a 31R, so I'm not even close to being in your league, haha.

 

I guess at this point I'm not particularly concerned with VR (as long as the scores stay consistent), and I think BS is manageable, even if it is tricky. PS is the main area that I am very worried about! I took first year physics several years ago and did very poorly (C+, although I was less than 0.5 a % away from a B-), although I recognize that living in residence definitely played a role in the low grade. In turn, I've worked myself up into a bit of a frenzy about it, and anticipate a 9 on the real exam with a lot of hard work.

 

Do you have any suggestions on how to study for PS, specifically? If it makes any difference, I'm taking an EK MCAT prep class for two months that includes 12ish hours a week of classroom time, and also involves taking approximately 1 AAMC practice test a week.

 

Also, even though I am a strong writer overall, I am concerned about the WS because I believe Queens and Western are my best options, so it is very important. Any tips for this section would also be great!

[Jessie]

I'm a nerd that makes graphs, so you can see my score trend here.

 

You're hilarious!!!!!!!

[Jessie]

And it's encouraging to see that you made progress over time.

[estairella]

Do you have any suggestions on how to study for PS, specifically?

 

Physics: I think the main way people get in trouble is that they learn the formulas and the concepts as it applies to whatever's in their textbook, but then they are unable to apply it to 'novel' situations. So... if you're at the stage where you're still learning concepts, you have to try your best to understand WHY the formulas are the way they are, not just memorize them. Then, while doing PS passages, simply remember that you are pretty much always only tested on basic principles, even if the scenario seems new.

 

As a quick example off the top of my head, for "uniform circular motion" you probably learned it in the context of a ferris wheel or something. But the concept applies equally to a a guy inside a car making donuts, a satellite rotating around a planet, a satellite just rotating in on itself, a proton circling around some magnetic field, a rock attached to a string, a roller coaster, etc. So I think recognizing how to tackle these other examples comes with both 1) knowing the concept well and 2) doing lots of practice passages.

 

The other thing that might be helpful is to make connections. Electric flow through circuits is very similar to fluid flow through tubes. Gravitational force is similar to electric force. And if all else fails (or perhaps, before doing anything else), don't pick an answer with the wrong units!

 

GenChem: To be honest, I never found anything too concerning about it so I don't have much advice. The formulas part I just treated like physics, and the 'facts' part (like what ions do what, what's an acid or a base) I think I just memorized.

 

Also, even though I am a strong writer overall, I am concerned about the WS because I believe Queens and Western are my best options, so it is very important. Any tips for this section would also be great!

 

If you just follow the general guide (thesis: your interpretation of what it means & some examples to support, antithesis & some examples to support and synthesis: when does it apply and when does it not & some examples) AND you write eloquently, I think there's no reason not to get a high mark... when I wrote the MCAT, the 'cut-offs' were all Ps and Qs so I wasn't too concerned about it.

 

And this part should be obvious but you are being partly marked by an American (unless it's all computer-marked now) so take that into consideration when writing your examples (the international dissent over the Iraq war, abortion rights as a human right and Gilles Duceppe would all be examples your marker might not 'get' )

 

Hope that helps!

[benhc911]

yah.. I did well on my first Kaplan practice MCAT, without any prep I got 12-11-10 (P-V- but... since then I took an EK 30 min verbal and it wasnt so hot, I found it far more vague, while I took a 100 min physics and got 13, and got another 10 on bio (I'm a chem eng so physics is easy except for random electricity and optics things I havent done in forever... but bio is kind of a stretch to do much better than a 10)... So now I'm planning on going through the EK 101 as best I can.

 

I say that it is rarely wise to skip an entire section while studying. But I also feel like VR is the least likely section to improve, as it isnt as basic as memorizing an equation. I'm enjoying the EK book on VR so far, but that doesn't mean its doing anything...

 

Good luck to everyone (especially those that aren't applying to the same schools as me /jokes/ )